Out Of The Dust Sparknotes

Out of the Dust takes place in Oklahoma in 1934-1935. During this time, the Dust Bowl is raging through the plains, and everything is covered in dust. Billie Jo and her family live in Oklahoma. Her father, Bayard, is a farmer and her mother, Polly, is pregnant with her younger brother. Billie Jo and her mother love playing the piano and are both very good. The whole family is suffering from the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. The farm is failing.

Polly has apple trees on their farm, which she loves very dearly. They are the only thing that is still growing in the drought. One day, Bayard sets a bucket of kerosene in the kitchen and Polly mistakes it for water and starts cooking with it. A fire starts and Polly runs to get water. Billie Jo tries to run out and throw the bucket, but it goes all over her mother. Polly is badly burned and Billie Jo's hands are severely burned. A couple weeks later, while

giving birth, Polly dies. A week later, the new baby boy dies as well. Billie Jo and Bayard are devastated. Billie Jo is unable to play piano anymore because of her hands, and that is really hard for her because that was her one way of escaping all the hardships. Everyone treats her differently now, except for Mad Dog. A large swarm of grasshoppers swoop through the farm and eat everything, including her mother's beloved apple trees.
After her mother's death, there is a very awkward relationship between Bayard and Billie Jo.

Billie Joe tries to continue playing the piano, but it usually ends in excruciating pain. Bayard has begun to develop dots on his skin. Billie Jo suspects that it is cancer, just like the kind that killed his father. Bayard, however, will not go to the doctor. Mad Dog is moving away to pursue his singing career. Billy Jo is slightly jealous of him because she can no longer pursue hers. Finally, the biggest dust storm ever hits, Black Sunday. This is the turning point. Billie Jo is in so much pain, physically and emotionally, that she runs away. She is afraid that the crops will never grow again. After she is gone for a few days, she realizes what she has done is wrong to her father. When she returns home, she finds that there is a new woman living in the house. Her name is Louise. They both fall in love and things begin looking up. The rain comes back and grass is starting to grow. The dust is starting to disappear and everything is looking better for Billie

Jo.
I would recommend this book to young adults. I think it will really help them learn about the Dust Bowl that occurred, and help them to understand the hardships of it. It has great emotion and imagery.